Dan Melson: June 2009 Archives

The new consumer article for today is They Told Me Not To Make My Loan Payment. Ladies and Gentlemen, that's one of the top ways to get yourself in trouble when you're refinancing. What if your new loan cannot be done for some reason? In some cases I may ask people to wait or to hold off, but never just to flat not make the payment.

Based upon "average credit", not absolutely perfect credit. People who do have better credit get even better rates!

Conforming Rates

Thirty Year Fixed Rate Loans

5.25% 30 Year fixed rate loan, with one total point (discount plus origination) to the consumer and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $400,000 loan, Payment $2208, APR 5.381! This is a thirty year fixed rate loan. The payment and interest rate will stay the same on this loan until it is paid off! 30 year fixed rate loans as low as 4.5 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

5/1 Hybrid ARM Rates

5/1 ARMs have now fallen to levels below 30 year fixed by nearly a full percent!

4.375% 5/1 ARM, with one total point (discount plus origination) to the consumer and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $400,000 loan, Payment $1997, APR 4.499! This is a fully amortized thirty year loan with the interest rate fixed for five years. 5/1 ARM rates as low as 4 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

Jumbo Conforming Rates (aka Super Conforming)

(NOW $417,001 to $697,500 in San Diego))

5.5% 30 Year fixed rate loan, with one point (total discount and origination) to the consumer and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $500,000 loan, Payment $2839, APR 5.632! This is a thirty year fixed rate loan. The payment and interest rate will stay the same on this loan until it is paid off! 30 year fixed rate loans as low as 4.625 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

VA Rates

5.5% 30 Year fixed rate loan, with one total point (discount plus origination) from the lender to the consumer and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES (Standard Veterans Administration government generated charges to borrowers apply)!. Assuming a $400,000 loan, Payment $2271, APR 5.633! This is a thirty year fixed rate loan. The payment and interest rate will stay the same on this loan until it is paid off! 30 year fixed rate VA loans as low as 4.75 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

NONCONFORMING ("JUMBO") RATES

(NOW $697,501 and above in San Diego)

These numbers assume a 70% loan to value ratio, not 80.

Thirty Year Fixed Rate Loans

6.00% "Jumbo" 30 Year fixed rate loan, with ONE point total discount and origination, and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $700,000 loan, Payment $4197, APR 6.128! This is a thirty year fixed rate loan. The payment and interest rate will stay the same on this loan until it is paid off! Jumbo 30 year fixed rate loans as low as 5.00 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

5/1 Hybrid ARM Rates

JUMBO 5/1s are about one percent lower than 30 year fixed for the same cost

5.25% "Jumbo" 5/1 ARM, with one point total discount and origination, and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $700,000 loan, Payment $3865, APR 5.372! This is a fully amortized thirty year loan with the interest rate fixed for five years. 5/1 Jumbo ARMs as low as 4.125 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!) On the hypothetical $700,000 loan, a 5/1 saves over $430 per month in cost of interest over a thirty year fixed!

All rates above are intended for San Diego County today, and include a 30 day lock. Loan prices will vary every day. Loan pricing in the rest of California will be similar. Conforming loan pricing will be similar between about $150,000 and the conforming limit in your area. Nonconforming loan pricing will be similar from the conforming limit up to about $1 million dollars in loan amount.

10 year interest only payments available on 30 year fixed rate loans!

Great Rates on super-jumbo loans also available!

Zero closing costs and zero points loans also available!

Portfolio lenders! Need something special most lenders can't do? Portfolio lenders may be the key! I have portfolio lenders!

Yes, I still have low to zero down payment purchase programs.

Sorry, the last stated income program of which I'm aware stopped taking applications this week.

These are actual retail rates at actual costs available to real people with average credit scores! I always guarantee the loan type, rate, and total cost as soon as I have enough information from you to lock the loan (subject to underwriting approval of the loan). I pay any difference, not you. If your loan provider doesn't do this, you need a new loan provider!

All of the above loans are on approved credit, not all borrowers will qualify, based upon an 80% loan to value and a median credit score on a full documentation loan. Rates subject to change until rate lock.

Interest only, stated income, bad credit and other options also available. If you need a mortgage, chances are I can do it faster and on better terms than you'll actually get from anyone else in the business.

Designing transactions for low to zero down payment a specialty

Please ask me about first time buyer programs, including the Mortgage Credit Certificate, which gives you a tax credit for mortgage interest, and can be combined with any of the above loans!

The new consumer article for today is There Is No Fairy Godmother for Loans. To avoid becoming a government statistic, ask prospective loan providers the hard questions before you sign on the bottom line - or better yet, before you sign up. "What happens later on?" is a very good question to ask.

I have a problem with shaving. Specifically, the fact that I have extremely tough facial whiskers, combined with facial skin that's the classic easily cut baby face. Put it all together, and not only do I hate shaving, I quite often emerge from shaving looking like I've lost a war with my razor. I've spent a lot of time and effort trying different solutions to the problem, which only got worse when my doctor put me on blood thinners after my heart attack.

So when my wife wanted me to try Mary Kay's Shaving Cream for men, I was understandably skeptical, but I understood this was Something Spouses Do For Each Other. She's certainly done equivalent things for me in the past.

I was very pleasantly shocked at how much better of a job it did. I've been using it now for almost two weeks, and the incidence of cuts is drastically reduced over the product that formerly did the best job.

So in penance for my skepticism, I'm posting this here. I highly recommend Mary Kay's Shaving Cream. I'm going to keep using it.

Disclosure for the clue challenged: Yes, my wife makes money every time she sells a can of this stuff. But she still did a good thing by making me try this. And she's the World's Only Perfect Woman too. I'll even send you the link to her Mary Kay website if you ask, but this stuff is available from every Mary Kay person.

The new consumer article for today is "I'm Working With Someone Else, But Could You Just Help Me With..." talking about requests for free work from real estate agents. I'm perfectly happy to give general information to non-clients and even talk about general options, but when it comes down to specific information applicable to specific situations, that's how I make a living, and when you really examine the issue, what a good agent (c'est moi) makes is both reasonable and incredibly cost effective. Not to mention that if I don't make a living, I'm not going to be an agent any longer, and therefore no longer in a position to give advice.

Meant to upload this a few days ago, but I had been having internet difficulties so it got delayed. This year, my elder daughter got Presidential Awards for both the English and Mathematics portions of the big test the state of California does every year.

The Sperm Donor Theory of Buyer's Agents. The real estate business is built around the listing agent, and most buyer's agents are pretty much afterthoughts and don't do much for their clients. However, the work a buyer's agent does is much more important to your future happiness than the work of a listing agent.

This is the new list of HOMESTEPS properties from Freddie Mac for the areas I specialize in. These properties qualify for special financing. I can get the list for other areas. I've been inside a couple good ones below.

I also have a list of upcoming HOMESTEPS properties not on the market yet.

I should note that Freddie Mac keeps properties on this list until they actually sell. Some of the below properties are in escrow.

Based upon "average credit", not absolutely perfect credit. People who do have better credit get even better rates!

I am sorry to have to report that we've had a spike in rates available and costs to get them this week. We may see a small decline in the next 2-3 weeks but I am certain the lowest rates are in the past. For those people I got 4.5% on thirty year fixed rate loans (and for less than a point in some cases) smile and pat yourself on the back. For those people still thinking about refinancing, we are likely to see significant upwards pressure on rates in a couple months. If current rates will still help you, let's get it started so we can lock your loan before it gets worse!

Conforming Rates

Thirty Year Fixed Rate Loans

5.5% 30 Year fixed rate loan, with one total point (discount plus origination) to the consumer and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $400,000 loan, Payment $2271, APR 5.633! This is a thirty year fixed rate loan. The payment and interest rate will stay the same on this loan until it is paid off! 30 year fixed rate loans as low as 4.75 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

5/1 Hybrid ARM Rates

5/1 ARMs have now fallen to levels below 30 year fixed by nearly a full percent!

4.625% 5/1 ARM, with one total point (discount plus origination) to the consumer and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $400,000 loan, Payment $2057, APR 4.751! This is a fully amortized thirty year loan with the interest rate fixed for five years. 5/1 ARM rates as low as 3.875 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

Jumbo Conforming Rates (aka Super Conforming)

(NOW $417,001 to $697,500 in San Diego))

5.75% 30 Year fixed rate loan, with one point (total discount and origination) to the consumer and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $500,000 loan, Payment $2918, APR 5.884! This is a thirty year fixed rate loan. The payment and interest rate will stay the same on this loan until it is paid off! 30 year fixed rate loans as low as 5.00 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

VA Rates

5.75% 30 Year fixed rate loan, with one total point (discount plus origination) from the lender to the consumer and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES (Standard Veterans Administration government generated charges to borrowers apply)!. Assuming a $400,000 loan, Payment $2334, APR 5.885! This is a thirty year fixed rate loan. The payment and interest rate will stay the same on this loan until it is paid off! 30 year fixed rate VA loans as low as 5.00 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

NONCONFORMING ("JUMBO") RATES

(NOW $697,501 and above in San Diego)

These numbers assume a 70% loan to value ratio, not 80.

Thirty Year Fixed Rate Loans

6.25% "Jumbo" 30 Year fixed rate loan, with ONE point total discount and origination, and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $700,000 loan, Payment $4310, APR 6.380! This is a thirty year fixed rate loan. The payment and interest rate will stay the same on this loan until it is paid off! Jumbo 30 year fixed rate loans as low as 5.375 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

5/1 Hybrid ARM Rates

JUMBO 5/1s are a full percent lower than 30 year fixed for the same cost

5.25% "Jumbo" 5/1 ARM, with one point total discount and origination, and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $700,000 loan, Payment $3865, APR 5.372! This is a fully amortized thirty year loan with the interest rate fixed for five years. 5/1 Jumbo ARMs as low as 4.375 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!) On the hypothetical $700,000 loan, a 5/1 saves over $580 per month in cost of interest over a thirty year fixed!

All rates above are intended for San Diego County today, and include a 30 day lock. Loan prices will vary every day. Loan pricing in the rest of California will be similar. Conforming loan pricing will be similar between about $150,000 and the conforming limit in your area. Nonconforming loan pricing will be similar from the conforming limit up to about $1 million dollars in loan amount.

10 year interest only payments available on 30 year fixed rate loans!

Great Rates on super-jumbo loans also available!

Zero closing costs and zero points loans also available!

Portfolio lenders! Need something special most lenders can't do? Portfolio lenders may be the key! I have portfolio lenders!

Yes, I still have low to zero down payment purchase and some stated income programs available!

These are actual retail rates at actual costs available to real people with average credit scores! I always guarantee the loan type, rate, and total cost as soon as I have enough information from you to lock the loan (subject to underwriting approval of the loan). I pay any difference, not you. If your loan provider doesn't do this, you need a new loan provider!

All of the above loans are on approved credit, not all borrowers will qualify, based upon an 80% loan to value and a median credit score on a full documentation loan. Rates subject to change until rate lock.

Interest only, stated income, bad credit and other options also available. If you need a mortgage, chances are I can do it faster and on better terms than you'll actually get from anyone else in the business.

Designing transactions for low to zero down payment a specialty

Please ask me about first time buyer programs, including the Mortgage Credit Certificate, which gives you a tax credit for mortgage interest, and can be combined with any of the above loans!

The new consumer article for today is The Sperm Donor Theory of Buyer's Agents. The real estate industry is built around the listing of property. Okay, it's actually built around the care and feeding of real estate brokerages, but the activities of real estate brokerages center around the listing of property, as that's how they mostly pick up additional clients. Representing buyers is pretty much an afterthought, and something that many listing firms do not do well.

Pick at least one buyer's agent before looking at property, and vet them during the looking process. Stop working with them if they don't measure up. That buyer's agent and the job they do (or don't do) is going to make more difference to your future happiness than anything else about the real estate process.

The new consumer article for today is Segmented Real Estate Markets And Taking Advantage of Them. I've written about how hot the current market is in San Diego. But if you break it down into market segments and micro markets, some market segments are much hotter than others. This is called market segmentation, and I discuss how to take advantage of it.

(based upon "average credit", not absolutely perfect credit. People who do have better credit get even better rates)

Rates appear to have mostly fallen off a bit from last week in conventional conforming land, but they are showing no signs of returning to levels of the week before. Market and inflationary forces are exerting more upwards pressure on rates than formerly.

(I do apologize for not writing any new articles - it's been one of those weeks where I've been going from 6 AM to 9PM or later every night.)

Conforming Rates

Thirty Year Fixed Rate Loans

5.00% 30 Year fixed rate loan, with one total point (discount plus origination) to the consumer and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $400,000 loan, Payment $2147, APR 5.129! This is a thirty year fixed rate loan. The payment and interest rate will stay the same on this loan until it is paid off! 30 year fixed rate loans as low as 4.25 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

5/1 Hybrid ARM Rates

5/1 ARMs have now fallen to levels below 30 year fixed by about a full percent!

4.125% 5/1 ARM, with one total point (discount plus origination) to the consumer and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $400,000 loan, Payment $1939, APR 4.247! This is a fully amortized thirty year loan with the interest rate fixed for five years. 5/1 ARM rates as low as 4.00 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

Jumbo Conforming Rates (aka Super Conforming)

(NOW $417,001 to $697,500 in San Diego))

5.25% 30 Year fixed rate loan, with one point (total discount and origination) to the consumer and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $500,000 loan, Payment $2761, APR 5.380! This is a thirty year fixed rate loan. The payment and interest rate will stay the same on this loan until it is paid off! 30 year fixed rate loans as low as 4.375 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

VA Rates

5.25% 30 Year fixed rate loan, with one total point (discount plus origination) from the lender to the consumer and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES (Standard Veterans Administration government generated charges to borrowers apply)!. Assuming a $400,000 loan, Payment $2209, APR 5.381! This is a thirty year fixed rate loan. The payment and interest rate will stay the same on this loan until it is paid off! 30 year fixed rate VA loans as low as 4.5 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

NONCONFORMING ("JUMBO") RATES

(NOW $697,501 and above in San Diego)

These numbers assume a 70% loan to value ratio, not 80.

Thirty Year Fixed Rate Loans

6.125% "Jumbo" 30 Year fixed rate loan, with ONE point total discount and origination, and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $700,000 loan, Payment $4253, APR 6.254! This is a thirty year fixed rate loan. The payment and interest rate will stay the same on this loan until it is paid off! Jumbo 30 year fixed rate loans as low as 5.00 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!)

5/1 Hybrid ARM Rates

JUMBO 5/1s are a full percent lower than 30 year fixed

5.00% "Jumbo" 5/1 ARM, with one point total discount and origination, and NO PREPAYMENT PENALTIES!. Assuming a $700,000 loan, Payment $3758, APR 5.120! This is a fully amortized thirty year loan with the interest rate fixed for five years. 5/1 Jumbo ARMs as low as 3.75 percent (But you'd have to be crazy to pay that many points!) On the hypothetical $700,000 loan, a 5/1 saves over $650 per month in cost of interest over a thirty year fixed!

All rates above are intended for San Diego County today, and include a 30 day lock. Loan prices will vary every day. Loan pricing in the rest of California will be similar. Conforming loan pricing will be similar between about $150,000 and the conforming limit in your area. Nonconforming loan pricing will be similar from the conforming limit up to about $1 million dollars in loan amount.

10 year interest only payments available on 30 year fixed rate loans!

Great Rates on super-jumbo loans also available!

Zero closing costs and zero points loans also available!

Portfolio lenders! Need something special most lenders can't do? Portfolio lenders may be the key! I have portfolio lenders!

Yes, I still have low to zero down payment purchase and some stated income programs available!

These are actual retail rates at actual costs available to real people with average credit scores! I always guarantee the loan type, rate, and total cost as soon as I have enough information from you to lock the loan (subject to underwriting approval of the loan). I pay any difference, not you. If your loan provider doesn't do this, you need a new loan provider!

All of the above loans are on approved credit, not all borrowers will qualify, based upon an 80% loan to value and a median credit score on a full documentation loan. Rates subject to change until rate lock.

Interest only, stated income, bad credit and other options also available. If you need a mortgage, chances are I can do it faster and on better terms than you'll actually get from anyone else in the business.

Designing transactions for low to zero down payment a specialty

Please ask me about first time buyer programs, including the Mortgage Credit Certificate, which gives you a tax credit for mortgage interest, and can be combined with any of the above loans!